UNIVERSITY of the East's (UE) incoming rookie Yuna Canlas emerged as a double gold medalist while her cousin Nicol Canlas won the women's sabre category during the first leg of the 2024 Philippine Fencing Association (PFA) Minime Championships last weekend at Gateway 2 in Quezon City.

The 13-year-old Nicol Canlas, second of three fencing children of Paris Olympics coach Rolando Canlas Jr., ruled the under-13 women's sabre category by beating Leanne Yu Nuo Tan of Valor Fencing Academy in Malaysia, 10-3, in the final round last Sunday.

On her way to the finals, the incoming UE grade 8 student bested Evian Yu Hey Hon, also of Valor, 10-1, in the round of 16; defeated Jamaima Agatha Sapalan of Estudio de Espada, 10-3, in the quarterfinals; and bested Elise Acuzar of Canlas Fencing with a come-from-behind 10-9 triumph in the semifinals.

Acuzar and Daveeh Araña also of Espada earned double bronze medals though it was the former who finished third overall following a 10-9 victory in the battle for third place.

As for the 12-year-old Yuna Canlas, the eldest of fencing daughters of QCSep coach Christian Canlas, she won the gold medal in the U-13 women's epee on Saturday and capped her impressive weekend with another victory in the U-13 women's foil on Sunday.

Canlas, one of the recruits of the Red Warriors fencing team for Season 87 of the UAAP, scored a thrilling 10-9 win against Hagia del Castillo of Canlas Fencing in the final of the foil event and rallied back to score a 15-12 triumph against UE teammate Willa Galvez in the epee category.

CF's Lily Juico and Jonie Ching got bronze medals in epee although the former finished third with a 15-12 win in the fence off for third, while Willow Ang and Galvez shared bronze medals but it was the latter that placed third after a 10-3 win in the battle for third.

The tournament, which was last held in 2019, will have three more editions. Points will be tallied after the fourth and last leg to determine the final rankings.

The other winners were Mason Bran Cruz in the U-7 mixed foil, Jiashu Li in the U-11 mixed epee, Aly Villacin in the U-9 mixed sabre, Pedro Hernandez in the U-9 men's foil, Yuri Canlas in the U-9 women's foil, Jacob Mayo in the U-13 men's epee, Elijah Timbol in the U-11 men's foil, Leanne Yu Nuo Tan in the U-11 women's sabre, Miguel de Guzman in the U-11 men's sabre, Eliora Lenise de la Cruz in the U-11 women's foil, Rui Tan of Valor in the U-13 men's sabre, and Rayne Maravilla in the U-13 men's foil.